Madison Esshaki

Genevieve Colbert’s eyes snapped open and rested upon the stone ceiling above her. Her wrists ached as she came to, a cold object biting at her skin.

Where am I? She thought, blinking a few times and glancing around the room. Lit by only a few torches on a wall, the space was dark and small. She sat up, a single question burning hot in her throbbing head.

How did I get here?

Genevieve attempted to rise from the floor, but was immediately pulled back down by  the force of something restraining her from behind. She glanced down at her wrists and realization struck her.

Chains.

This was a cell. She was a prisoner.

With a manacle on each wrist.

All the memories of the past afternoon flooded back to her, as a low voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Oh look, Eden. She does live.”

Genevieve, somewhat startled, glanced over to where the voice had come from. On the other side of the cell a boy dressed in dark clothing leaned against the wall, a rather relaxed expression on his dirt caked face. Next to him, a girl fiddled with her necklace. Their ankles had been chained behind them.

“Who are you?” Genevive asked. 

“Just a couple of convicts like yourself,” the boy said with a smirk, offering as much of a bow as he could while he was sitting. 

“The name’s Percival Kadmiel,” he said. “And this is my sister Eden.” 

The girl next to him smiled and offered a small wave. Genevieve mustered the best smile she could before Percival spoke again.

“So, how did you get arrested?”

Genevieve took off her glasses and wiped them on her stained tunic. “I stole a measly orange from a fruit cart,” she mumbled, not meeting his gaze. “Those blasted police forget that orphans have to eat too.”

“I see,” Percy responded.

Genevieve raised an eyebrow and casted him a sideways glance.

“How did you get arrested?” she asked.

“Oh, y’know,” he replied with a shrug. “Same old case of the cops overreacting.” 

“Uh huh,” she said skeptically. “Whatever.”

Genevieve turned her gaze away from the boy and examined the chains around her wrist. 

“Smooth, shiny, silver with a slight blue undertone,” she muttered to herself, tugging at her restraints. “But unfortunately, nowhere near malleable.”

She pushed her glasses up her nose.

Azure-steel, she concluded. These must be made of Azure-steel.

Azure-steel was a common, strong and cheap metal found in mines all throughout the planet of Everlid. It was often used for these kinds of things—prison cells and convict chains—because of its low price and tendency to hold up against any physical strain.

Genevieve let out a frustrated grunt. 

Azure-steel was practically indestructible. She remembered reading once that the only thing that could destroy it was a very rare and illegal substance called Eradicating Elixir. Genevieve had only seen it a few times in her life, and every time she’d kept her distance. The elixir was known for its ability to melt almost any substance on Everlid—including human flesh—with the only exception being a special glass crafted for its bottles. For that reason, the government had outlawed the substance years ago, and it was almost impossible to find it anywhere on the planet now.

Which meant that the chances of Genevieve getting out of this prison cell were incredibly low.

“You all right over there?” Percival’s voice broke through her thoughts. She jerked her head around and met his gaze again.

“Yes,” Genevieve replied, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. “Just trying to find a way out of here.”

Percival’s chains clattered together as he sat up a bit straighter. “What were all the fancy words you were muttering to yourself just now?”

“What?”

“Those words you were saying. Is it some sort of secret code or something?”

Gen rolled her eyes. “No, as a matter of fact. I was simply attempting to analyze the characteristics of the Azure-steel metal.”

Percival blinked and stared at her blankly. She sighed and jingled her chains. “Y’know, the stuff that’s got us bound to these blasted walls.”

Percival’s lips curled into a small smirk. “Ah.”

Genevieve tried her best to ignore the incompetent boy’s glare as she focused on a plan B. She was determined to get out of here somehow.

“What’s your name?” Percival asked. “I gave you mine and my sisters, but you never told us yours.”
“Genevieve,” she replied coldly, not looking up from the floor tiles she was investigating. “But… I suppose you can call me Gen.”

“Well then, Gen,” he answered with a smile. “Call me Percy.” 

She glared at him. “Alright, Percy, any ideas on how to get out of here?”
He shrugged. “Beats me.”

Gen scoffed and looked around the room. She was surprised to find not one guard or officer stationed within the cell parameter.

Unusual for a prison.

“Is that normal?” Gen asked, “That there aren’t any guards here?”

 Percival nodded “There never is. Not since we’ve been here, at least.” 

Eden nodded beside her brother. 

“It’s strange,” Eden added, speaking for the first time since Gen had woken up. “The only time we see anyone here is during meals, when someone comes to bring us food. Other than that, there are no guards.”

 “When was the last meal time?” 

“Three hours ago,” Eden replied. “Right before you came. Next one won’t be for a few more hours.” 

So I’ve only got a few hours to get out of here, Gen thought. Just perfect.

“Say,” Percival said to Gen, his eyes narrowed in contemplation. “You seem like the kind of person who would know.”

She groaned. This boy was already starting to get on her nerves; bursting into her thoughts at every given moment. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if she had to spend the rest of her life with him in this cell. 

“Know what?” she snapped at him.

“You see, there’s a little something I’d been trying to identify before I was sent here,” he said. “Yet, no one in the city could tell me what it was.” 

The boy opened up his jacket and reached into an internal pocket. “Any chance you could tell me what this is?”

He pulled out his hand, and in it he held a small bottle with a bubbling yellow liquid inside. Gen’s jaw dropped so quick and hard she wondered if it might fall off her face.

“Eradicating Elixir?” she practically yelled, wishing she could lunge and grab the bottle from his hand. “How on Everlid did you find it?”

“Hey, hey, keep it down!” Percy whispered. “I…bought it, very legally, from a gentleman a while back.”

“Right, that makes sense,” Gen said, sarcastically. “And how did you manage to buy an illegal substance legally?”

“Okay, so maybe it had something to do with why I was arrested,” Percy said. “But I promise, I didn’t mean any harm. I don’t even know what it does. Think you could tell me?”

Smuggling one of the most dangerous chemicals on the planet? No wonder this boy had been arrested. 

“No offense, but I don’t know if I trust you with that information,” Gen said. 

“Ouch!” Percy cried. 

“But if you give it to me, I may be able to break us out of here.”

He hesitated, but eventually rolled the bottle over. With a careful hand Gen popped off the cap and began pouring the elixir onto her chains; first on the left manacle, and then the right. As soon as the substance came into contact with her restraints, the Azure-steel began to melt away, dripping into a broiling puddle near Gen’s feet. With a swift spin she avoided the splatter, watching as the substance shifted into its harmless, cooling phase.

Gen rubbed her hands together, a victorious smile on her face.

“Okay, who’s going next?” she asked, holding up the bottle and glancing over to the two jaw-dropped kids.

When she was met with silence, she let out a short laugh. “Whoa, not all at once,” she joked.

“I think Eden would love to go first,” Percy said looking at his sister, a ridiculous smile creeping onto his face. 

“Hey! Why should I go first?” She shoved him. “You’re older. You should be the first to volunteer.” Percy was about to call something back before Gen interrupted their arguing.

“Well it’s either this,” she motioned to the bottle in her hand, “or I leave you both here.”

Percy’s hand shot up. “On second thought, I volunteer.”

She walked over and poured the elixir over his chains, pulling Percy out of harm’s way as he let out a girlish squeal. Once his shackles had melted, Gen repeated the process with Eden’s restraints, leaving the three convicts free and their chains in cooled puddles of molten steel on the floor.

All that was left to do now was to get out of the cell. Not surprisingly and quite conveniently, the lock on the door was also made of Azure-steel. Gen cautiously poured the elixir onto the lock and it melted to the floor, allowing the door to swing open with a creak.

“Well that was easy enough,” Percy announced with a smile.

“Don’t hold your breath,” Gen whispered, taking the lead. “We still have to find a way out of this place.”

Stepping out of the cell, Gen took in the sight of it all. Prison rooms like the one they had just escaped lined the stone walls, with regular iron barred cells in between. Convicts stared at them through their confinements, but still, there wasn’t a guard in sight.

“Either of you remember which way’s the exit?” Gen murmured, taking a turn down a dark hallway. The next room was the same; lines of enclosed rooms and open barred spaces between them, prisoners staring from behind.

“Couldn’t tell you,” Percy whispered, glancing around as he trailed behind. “We were knocked out when they brought us to our cell.”

Gen sighed. “So was I. I guess we’ll just have to find the way on our own.”

“Good luck,” a gruff, sarcastic voice interrupted from behind the group. “You’ll never make it out.”

The startled group jumped back, and Gen held back a laugh as Percy let out another high-pitched scream. They all swiveled their eyes toward the sound. 

“Who are you?” Eden asked, hiding behind her brother. They all stared at the girl who sat ahead of them, wrists and ankles chained to a nearby wall. Unlike the other prisoners, though, she wasn’t behind bars.

“The name’s Elle,” she said, glaring at them with dagger-like eyes. “And if you three were planning on escaping just now, I’d like you to know that you have a very small chance.”

Gen walked over to Elle, whose chains jingled as she shuffled back uncomfortably. The girl’s wrists were scarred red and bruised beneath the steel; the mark of someone who’d been a prisoner for a long time. Ratted brown hair framed her dark and bitter eyes and the heavy bags she carried under them.

“You should listen to me,” Elle said. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“How so?” Gen asked, examining her.

The girl laughed, harsh and cold. “You don’t think I’ve tried to escape? You don’t think, in the three years that I’ve lived in this wasteland that I’ve tried to get out?”
She let out a maniacal breath. “I’ve tried and failed to get past those guards more times than you can probably count, girl.”

Gen paused, taking a step back. “Guards? But there aren’t any guards here.”

The chained girl scoffed. “You think you’re clever, don’t ya, new girl?” 

She sighed. “There aren’t guards in this section. They do that on purpose, to trick the prisoners into thinking they have some hope. They find entertainment in our struggle.”  Elle nodded toward the long and twisted hall in front of them. “In reality, they’re all stationed at the end of that maze, guarding the exit door, just waiting to grab any runaway convicts and sentence them to a worse punishment than they are already in for.”

Elle turned her gaze away from them and muttered something under her breath. Gen couldn’t help but wonder if that was why this girl was chained from both limbs.

“This is all a maze?” Gen continued, motioning a hand to the hallway.

“Yes,” Elle replied. “And a rather confusing one at that. The guards took special care in making sure it’s a pain in the neck to navigate. Took me forever to discover the way out.”

At this, Percival, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout all of this, spoke up again. 

“You know the way out of here?” 

Elle rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. I told you, I’ve tried to escape this place more times than I can count.”

Percival shot Gen a glare, and she glanced down at the girl. 

Elle stared up with her heavy dark eyes. Tired, cold, hungry. Her eyes described her well.

 A pang of pity swirled in Gen’s gut, and another one of fear. 

Was this how she would turn out if she couldn’t escape? Bitter and hopeless, forced to listen to the jingle of her own chains and feel the burning of steel against her skin for the rest of her life?

“On second thought, I don’t know about this guys,” Gen said hesitantly, stumbling back a step. At first she’d been sure escaping was the best thing to do, but now…now she wasn’t so sure. What was she going back to anyways? Starvation?

 “Maybe it’s safer to just… stay where we were put,” she rambled. “After all, we don’t really know what’s out there. What if we can’t take down the guards? What if—” 

“Hey, hey,” Percy interrupted, placing a strong hand on her shoulder. “No second guessing. Whatever is out there, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle. Especially with that fancy melting magic potion of mine.” 

She cracked a small smile at the confidence in his voice. “Of yours?”

“Of course,” he said.

Before Gen could reply, Eden crept up behind her brother and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. As she did, Percy’s mouth curved into his signature smirk and he stared back at Gen.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Gen replied, flashing a smirk back at him. “But I do trust Eden.”
Eden snickered as Percy rolled his eyes. “Fine. Good thing this was her idea, then.”

He turned away from the chuckling girls and turned back to Elle.

“So,” he said, “how would you like to come with us? We could definitely use your navigation know-how.”

Elle stared back at him, visibly unimpressed. “You’re forgetting something,” she said matter-of-factly, jingling the chains behind her.  

Percy beamed. “Gen, care to do the honors?”

Gen pulled out the bottle from her pocket and showed it to the chained girl. 

“It’s how we escaped,” she explained, and Elle flashed her a look of concern.

 “You’ll be fine,” Gen reassured. “But you’ll need to back away as soon as this elixir comes into contact with your chains. If you don’t, it could get on your skin and leave you with severe burns.”

Elle kept a skeptical gaze fixed on Gen for a long moment, but eventually agreed.

 Gen popped the cap off the bottle and held her breath as she poured the bubbling elixir over the girl’s chains. Elle jerked forward and stood up in a quick motion, avoiding any contact with the elixir as it bubbled and cooled on the ground.

“Free at last!” the girl cried, smiling her first genuine smile since they had met her. Elle rubbed at her blistered wrists and stretched her arms. “It’s been a while since I could do this,” she turned to Percy and then to Gen, her eyes no longer quite as somber. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Gen said, placing the elixir back in her pant pocket. “Think of it as payment in advance for the help you’re going to give us.”

“Wow,” Elle breathed as she stared at her wrists, still quite in shock. “Where has that stuff been all my life?”

Gen glanced at Percy. “Don’t ask me.”

Percy stuttered as he searched for a reply. “I, uh…you know what, we should get a move on. Wasting time here.” 

“Right,” Gen laughed. “Lead the way, sir.”

“Nope,” he replied, throwing up his hands. “Elle’s our guide.”

Elle shared a confused and slightly concerned look with Eden, before taking her place at the front of the line. “All right, then… follow me.”

The group stepped out into another hallway and took in the dreary sight. It was a maze all right, with seemingly endless twisting corners and more narrow hallways in front of them.

“To your left you’ll find a very lovely collection of half-dead people,” Elle announced mockingly as they walked, motioning to the rows of cells and convicts that glared through them. “And to your right, you’ll find… some half-dead people, and some fully-dead people. We’ve got some diversity, ladies and gentlemen.”

Gen glanced around, a shiver running down her spine at the sight of the miserable prisoners. Elle was right; they all looked only half alive, but each of their faces told a different story. Some were old and worn, and had evidently spent years being held hostage. Yet some were fresh new faces, just as clueless as Gen had been when she first arrived only hours ago. Not knowing what to say to them, and not wanting to cause trouble, Gen rushed the crew out before any worn or fresh faces became too jealous.

“Ooh, can I have a go, Gen? Please?” Percy asked as Gen pulled out the bottle once more from her pocket after Elle had brought them to a large door. “It is my elixir after all.” 

Gen looked at him with suspicion, glancing at the door, then at the bottle in her hands and finally back at him. She sighed and handed it over. “Fine. But be. Careful.”

Percy excitedly poured the elixir over the lock and watched it melt in front of them. 

“Woah,” he breathed. “Did you see that, Gen? I did it, and I didn’t hurt anybody!”

“Very well done, my boy,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief and patting him on the shoulder. “Now give it back.”

Percy reluctantly gave it back to her, and Gen examined it before putting it back into her pocket.

“We’re running a little low, guys,” she said as they walked into the small, empty room. “More than halfway gone. If Elle is right and there are guards out there, we may need this.” 

“I am right,” Elle snapped as they reached the wall at the end of the space. “Trust me.”

“So, then,” Eden chimed in. “We’re going to need another strategy to get past the next few doors.”

“This is the last door,” Elle corrected her, pointing to the door in front of them. “After this is the exit.”

“All right, then! Blue skies and sunshine are just a door away!” Percival beamed.

Elle cocked her head and glared at him. “You’re painfully optimistic, you know that right?”

“You know it,” he winked.

“Elle,” Gen said as the group gathered around the final door.  “You’ve been here before, and you didn’t have elixir. How do we open it?”

“There’s a key,” she answered, “One specifically designed for each door. It’s been a while, but if I remember right, the one for this one was hidden somewhere over here last time.” She crossed to the opposite corner of the room and ran her fingers over the stone wall. She stopped when they came across a small hole in the stone, and she placed her hand inside of it.

Elle frowned as she turned back to the group.

“It’s not here. Blasted guards must have hidden it somewhere else.”

The group groaned. The next mealtime would arrive soon, and they needed to get out before then. Looking to each other for encouragement, the group assured each other with their eyes and continued their search. They split up, raiding every corner of the room and keeping an eye out for anything that could hold a key. Before long they’d explored the entire space, and still no luck.

Gen sighed. She was about to just use the elixir and get them all out of this wretched enclosure, but a joyful comment stopped her endeavor. 

“You guys, I’m amazing,” Percy called down to the group, sitting on top of the doorpost and dangling a small key from his hand. His classic smirk was on his face as he threw it down to the group. 

“Exquisite job, kid,” Elle said, catching the tiny treasure. “Now get down before you hurt yourself.”

Percival sighed, attempting to carefully climb back down the side of the door. Failing miserably, he let out a squeal as he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground with a crash.

Elle smacked her forehead with her palm, and Gen and Eden rushed over to him. 

“Hey, no need for the unusual attention,” he laughed, rising from the floor and brushing off his trousers. “I’m fine.”

“And it’s a good thing, too,” Elle said, sticking the key into the hole. “Because we’re going to need all the fighters we can get once I open this door.”

Gen, Eden and Percy exchanged a glance. 

“Brace yourselves,” Elle warned them. “This is where things get hard.”

With the click of the key turn and the creak of the hinges, the door swung open. The four of them hurried into the last of the many halls, ducking into a shadowed corner to avoid being seen. Gen glanced around. This time it was no maze, just a long corridor where a handful of armed guards waited at the end, laughing and just waiting to get their hands on any escaped convicts.

And we could be their next catch, Gen thought. 

“See that door over there?” Elle said in a barely audible whisper, pointing to the steel door behind the guards. “That’s our exit. To get there, we’ve gotta get past the guards.

Lucky for you, I’ve done this enough times to know some of the loopholes. Those guards? They’re strong, and they’re ruthless. But as for wits, a fly could surpass them.”

Elle tied her belt tighter and twisted her hair into a messy bun. “All it takes is one distraction to send them running.”

“So… what’s our distraction?” Percy whispered.

“You,” Elle smiled. “And me. We’ll sneak up on them from behind and grab their swords. Then we’ll hold them down while you two,” she motioned toward Gen and Eden. “Get that door open. Understood?”
Percy and the girls nodded slowly, and Elle leaned herself against the wall. When Percy joined her, the two silently shuffled their way toward the guards, remaining up against the dimly lit wall throughout. 

Gen and Eden held their breath as one of the guards bent over to pick up something near his feet.

“A penny for luck,” he told his friends with a laugh, punching the palm of his hand. “Maybe we’ll get to have some fun today.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Elle called, suddenly leaping from the shadows and kicking the unexpecting guard in the gut.

“You again!” Another guard yelled, unsheathing his sword. “How many chains must we bind you with?”

Elle dodged his grip and kicked him in the nose. 

 “Percy!” she cried to the frazzled boy. “Pin him down!”

Together, Elle and Percy knocked down guard after guard, swinging punches and kicks and holding them to the ground while retrieving their weapons. 

“Girls, go!” Elle commanded as she pinned down her opponent. Gen and Eden hurried toward the large bolted Azure-steel door at the end of the hall. 

“The elixir could burn through it,” Eden suggested, out of breath.

“Yes,” Gen said, equally breathless. “But we may need the rest of that to defeat the guards.” 

She stared at the door; their hindered ticket to freedom.

If only…

Suddenly, an idea came to her. She flashed Eden a Percy-inspired smirk as she leaned in to voice her thoughts. “Maybe… we can use it for both.”

“What do you mean?” Eden asked, confused.

“If we can throw the elixir against the steel so that the bottle breaks, and it gets everywhere,” Gen said, “It will burn through this exit door… and hopefully scare away any guards that get in our way. ” 

Eden thought for a moment. “That could work.”

Gen nodded, right as Elle’s voice pierced through the air. 

“Would you two hurry up? We can’t hold them much longer.”

Gen swallowed and steadied herself.

She was going to get them out of this prison. Finally.

“Watch out, everyone!” she called, raising her arm and the elixir. She grabbed Eden’s hand, and with a forceful swing she hurled the bottle against the door. Pulling Eden along with her, Gen threw herself into a nearby corner as it shattered.

With a deafening sizzling noise the door dissolved and smoked, revealing bit by bit the sunshine from outside. Gen shut her eyes, trying to block out the screams of the guards as they ran for their lives.

Suddenly, a familiar girlish scream rang above the others.

“Uh, Gen?” Percy cried. “Help!”

Gen glanced over at him. The elixir had splashed and hit his coat and he was squirming to get out of it before it burned through. 

“We need water!” Gen yelled as she jumped from her spot in the corner and started looking for anything that might have it. Eden and Elle searched too, checking each of the corners in the room. Percy’s coat was burning more by the second and they started to panic. Finally, Eden spotted something. 

“Elle, look!” She called “Behind you, near where the guards were, under that sword… what’s that?”

Elle quickly turned around and grabbed a small object that rested underneath one of the guards swords.

“It’s a canteen!” She cried, retrieving the container and looking inside. “And it’s water!” 

“Thank goodness,” Gen breathed. “Elle, quick, pour it over the affected area!”

She breathed a sigh of relief as Elle ran to the now thrashing Percy and dumped the water over him. The fizzing from his coat ceased and he sat in shock, soaking wet and coat half dissolved.

They stood in silence for a moment, all trying to catch their breath.

“Well,” Percy eventually croaked. “That was an adventure.”

Eden made her way to her brother and helped him to his feet, throwing herself into his embrace. “Don’t scare me like that, Percival Kadmiel!”

The boy laughed and hugged his sister back, glancing over her shoulder at Elle and Gen.

“Thanks,” he said. “That… could’ve ended poorly.”

“And that, my good sir,” Gen said, smiling, “is why that particular substance is illegal.”

Percy chuckled. “Yeah, makes sense.”

“You guys,” Elle said, eyes fixed on the open hole where the door had once been, and at the beautiful spring day ahead of her. Gen noticed her eyes had softened, and the bitter harshness of her voice had melted into relief. “I’m ready to go.”

Gen beamed. “I think we all are. Let’s get out of here.”

 The group stepped outside, the sun’s brightness practically blinding them compared to the dark dungeon.

They were finally free.

It had been less than a day since Gen had been imprisoned, and yet, with all the excitement, it felt like a lifetime.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Percy said. “But I never want to see another dungeon again in my life.”

Eden scoffed. “I second that.”

“Better steer clear of any more illegal elixirs, then,” Gen replied with a smile.

“Trust me,” Percy laughed. “I will.”

Elle rubbed again at her scarred wrists. “Well, I never want to see any more of that wretched blue steel again,” she said. “Or any of those dimwitted guards.”

Gen spoke up next. “I agree with all of you. I think we’ve all had our fair share of dungeons, elixirs and blue steel.”

They walked in an awkward silence for a while, none of them having anywhere to go or anything to say. After a while they paused, each following the next until they were gathered in a field nearby.

“So,” Gen started, “What now?”

“I guess this is goodbye?”  Elle said, uncertainty in her voice. Gen nodded somberly, fixing her eyes to the ground.

“Guess so,” she replied.

With a few awkward smiles and faint farewells, the group began to dissipate. Gen wasn’t sure where she’d go now, but she knew she would have to find her way on her own again.

Just like she’d done for her whole life.

“Hang on a second,” Percy called, and everyone turned back to each other. “Are we really going to pretend that didn’t just happen?”

The group slowly turned and melted back together.

“Are we just going to go our separate ways and pretend that you guys didn’t just save my life, or that we didn’t just escape prison together?”

Gen crossed her arms and smirked. “What do you expect us to do?”

Percy stood on a nearby tree stump and addressed them. “I propose the formation of a team. The greatest team on this side of the planet, to be specific,” He thought for a moment, as the girls beneath him fought back smiles. “Team Percivivenelle,” Percy announced proudly. “It’s perfect.” 

The rest of the group exchanged glances and chuckles.

“Look,” he said, gesturing toward him and his sister, “We don’t have anywhere to go, and you don’t have anywhere to go,” Gen watched as he motioned to her, then to Elle, “And I don’t think you have anywhere to go…”

They stared at him blankly. “So?”

“So,” he sighed, “Why not stick together?” 

Silence for a moment.

“For once, I agree with my brother,” Eden chimed in.

Gen smiled.

For so long she’d been on her own. Dependent on only herself and her knowledge of the world.

But this journey had made her realize that sometimes a fresh pair of eyes were needed.

The eyes of a troublemaking boy to find the lost key, or of his shy sister to see the best in an unexpected friend. The eyes of a passionate convict to lead the way out of the darkness.

Besides, Percy was right. Was she really about to let the only people who’d ever come close to being her friends slip through her fingers?

 “I’m in,” Gen exclaimed. “We did make a pretty good team back there.”

She watched Eden turn to Elle. “Well, what about you?” 

Elle thought for a moment before offering a solitary laugh. “I wouldn’t have thought I would agree to teaming up with you guys forever, but yeah, I’m in too.” 

“Okay then, it’s settled,” Percy beamed, “Long live team Percivivenelle.”

The group of newfound friends huddled close together as they continued on their journey. 

“Gen,” Percy asked, placing an arm around her shoulders, “do you think you’ll ever forget how we all met?”

She laughed. “I highly doubt it, my boy. I highly doubt it.”

—

Special thanks to my sister, Sophia — this story is, in great part, hers.